1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension for motor vehicles, and more particularly to a motor vehicle suspension with a trailing arm.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rear wheel suspensions for automobiles have heretofore been required to meet various requirements such as excellent riding comfort, maneuvering stability, a reduced weight, a reduced cost, and a space saving design, for example. A variety of rear suspensions have been proposed and put to use, but have had their own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, no automotive rear suspensions have been standardized.
Conventional strut-type suspensions are advantageous in that they can distribute the load imposed thereon, are relatively lightweight, and inexpensive. However, the strut-type suspension allows frictional forces acting on a damper shaft to affect the riding comfort. The semitrailing arm has proven unsatisfactory in that it permits relatively large camber and toe variations, and takes up a large space for installation since it requires a relatively thick member to provide desired rigidity against a lateral force. The double-wishbone-type suspension is complex in construction, expensive, heavy, and requires a large installation space, though the suspension has links that can be arranged with greater freedom and has relatively good characteristics.
FIG. 6 shows a conventional independent rear suspension composed of a three-link mechanism comprising an upper arm 103, a lower arm 104, and a trailing arm 105, and a damper 106 with a spring. The illustrated prior independent rear suspension is lightweight, inexpensive, and a spacer saver and has as good characteristics as those of the double-wishbone-type suspension. The sole problem with this independent rear suspension, however, is that tires as they move up and down are subjected to toe-out.